Newsletter Fall 2018

Psychology Faculty Take the Leap into the Commercial Sphere

While all faculty have plenty on their professional plates with research, teaching, and service, four University of Michigan psychology professors—Patricia Deldin, Jacquie Mattis, Nestor Lopez-Duran, and Twila Tardif—have added significantly to theirs by pursuing commercial ventures beyond the academy. For each, taking their work into the commercial sphere allows them to further their own scholarly efforts while quickly bringing innovations to other academics and the general public. Read more about each of their entrepreneurial ventures.

A Letter from our Department Chair: Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz

Dear Friends of Psychology,

Fall semester 2018 has arrived and East Hall is re-energized by the start of a new academic year. Psychology undergraduates are getting acquainted with their new professors and graduate student instructors, getting to know their new lab mates, and planning research projects for the year ahead. Our new cohort of graduate students have completed the Psychology Orientation, and they’re planning with their mentors for research on their “619” projects.

This newsletter is our way of keeping you up-to-date on activities in the department, as well as the many accomplishments of our faculty and students. In this issue we recognize with gratitude the generosity of several donors whose gifts to Psychology enhance the educational and research opportunities we can offer our students. Our spotlight on Psychology alumni, current students and faculty gives you a closer look at the fascinating and inspired work in our field and the talented individuals who make it happen. We also feature news about some of the entrepreneurial ventures that Psychology faculty have undertaken in recent years. These are just a few examples of how the research and scholarship in our department translates into real world products and impact.

Indeed, our alumni tell us that Michigan Psychology and BCN degrees will take you anywhere you want to go! Please share your stories with us and be an active part of our alumni network. We hope you will complete an alumni profile, visit us when you’re in town, and participate in our alumni events and the fund raising activities that celebrate and support our Michigan Psychology community!

Patti

Donor Impact

Elizabeth Bishop: Giving to the University of Michigan is Giving to Family

To Elizabeth “Betty” Bishop, the University of Michigan is family. “It’s weird that I go through a couple of days without having some connection to the university in one of these myriad of ways,” she observes. “It’s really sort of another family. Which is one of the reasons I think I wanted to make sure it was provided for in my planning.”

Read more about Dr. Bishop’s experience at the University of Michigan and the newly established Elizabeth S. Bishop Ph.D. Graduate Student Travel Fund.

Lorraine Nadelman: An inspiring educator gives to cultivate the next generation of scholars

Associate Professor Emerita of Psychology

Upon her retirement in 1993, the university said of professor Lorraine Nadelman, “She has truly been a ‘master teacher’: utterly dedicated, energetic, handsomely organized, innovative, and endlessly capable of individualizing instruction. She has inspired scores of students on to careers in psychology.” With her recent gift to the department creating the Honors Thesis Award in Developmental Psychology, the Graduate Student Research Prize in Developmental Psychology, and a visiting scholar fund, all in her name, the self-described “grandma of the developmental program” will continue to nurture and inspire students well into the future.

Read more about her gifts and how a nursery school experience influenced Dr. Nadelman’s decision to pursue a career in Child Psychology.

Richard & Beverly Palmer: Paying it forward in thanks for a life-changing education

The Michigan Psychology Department isn’t in the business of matchmaking. Nonetheless it did an excellent job of connecting Dick and Bev Palmer, who met as psychology undergraduates and have been married for more than 50 years. While Michigan fostered their relationship, in their estimation it is also responsible for their long and successful careers in psychology and psychiatry. Read more about how the Palmers met, their career path post graduation, and how they are giving back to UM.

Alumni Spotlight

Life after Graduation: Putting Psychology to Work with Scott Metcalf

Scott Metcalf, Senior Associate Program Director, University of Chicago University of Michigan, Psychology BA 1987

Mr. Metcalf’s Psychology degree has led him to the University of Chicago where he leads a team of career advisors who provide career guidance to undergraduate students across a wide range of professions. Read about what has inspired Mr. Metcalfand his advice to aspiring Psychology students.

Life after Graduation: Putting Psychology to Work with Beverly Daniel Tatum

Dr. Beverly Tatum retired in July 2015 as President Emerita of Spelman College. She now hopes to focus on work as an author, lecturer, and expert of racial identity development. She is the author of the widely acclaimed book "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria." Read more about Dr. Tatum’s University of Michigan experience.

Alumni: Share your Career Experience

We would love to hear from alumni who have pursued non-traditional psychology careers! Alumni profiles and videos are featured on our website to show our undergraduates the wide range of careers that can be achieved with a degree in psychology.

If you would like to share your post-graduate career experience, please contact us. The first ten people to respond via the website will receive a Psychology t-shirt!

Undergraduate/Graduate Student Research Highlights

Rachel Ghosh, Psychology Honors major and Community Action & Social Change minor, December 2018 graduate

In Rachel's Honors thesis, she investigates the research question: In what aspects of life do daughters with absent fathers fare just as well as, or better than, women with present fathers? Working in Dr. Rona Carter's lab, she developed a questionnaire to measure three significant aspects and predictors of well-being in women’s lives: the closeness of their mother-daughter relationships, the quality of their sibling relationships, and their college academic performance. These will be compared between women with present versus absent fathers. Rachel hypothesizes that daughters of father absence may fare just as well as, or even better than, women with present fathers in terms of these three outcomes. She is approaching the topics of father absence and the effects on their children’s development and well-being using a strengths-based approach, resilience framework, and feminist lens. She is excited about her research because it is a unique and under-studied viewpoint in the literature - particularly in the context of daughters of father absence. Her research aims to challenge the dominant narrative that daughters are disadvantaged and materially harmed by their father’s absence. If supported, it will provide support for the concept that daughters can develop healthily without traditional, nuclear families during childhood, and still function normally and successfully into adulthood.

Sofia Carrera, Biopsychology PhD student

Sofia is a 3rd year PhD student in Biopsychology, studying the physiology and behavior of wild gelada monkeys in Ethiopia. She focuses on how maternal stress impacts offspring development. In mammals, maternal stress has been shown to affect offspring both directly, by transferring stress hormones through the placenta and breast milk, and indirectly, through maternal care. However, not many studies have been conducted in primates and fewer look at effects in the long-term. With data from the Simien Mountain Gelada Research Project, Sofia is examining the long-term effects of maternal stress on offspring growth and development. In her upcoming field season, Sofia will also examine the relationship between maternal stress and maternal care. This research will expand our knowledge of how mothers alter their level of investment under stressful conditions, and of how offspring adjust their development in response to different levels of maternal investment.

Faculty Research Highlights

The percentage of people with more than one racial background is increasing in America. Will this change the way we think about race? Read moreto find out what Dr. Ho has to say.

Dr. Frank Yates, Arthur F Thurnau Professor of Psychology

Students and alumni gathered in May for a very special 2018 Michigan May Decision Conference! The gathering celebrated over 30 years of graduate student mentoring by Prof. Frank Yates. Students from across the years gathered in the same room for the first time and presented current research on decision making. One noted, "I speak for all of us when I say thank you for making us all better thinkers, better writers, and more interesting researchers! And doing so with a sense of humor!"

Lecturer Spotlight

Katie Jodl, Lecturer II

Katie Jodl: “I continue to be somewhat amazed that I’m a part of the University of Michigan and in particular, the Department of Psychology. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to teach talented students and collaborate with gifted scientists. I have LOVED every minute of it! I couldn’t ask for a better community of teachers and scholars in the field.” Read more about Dr. Jodl’s upbringing, the many ways she enhances our community, and the advice she gives to aspiring Psychology students.

Psychology Faculty Honors and Awards

We are thrilled to share news about the numerous prestigious honors and awards bestowed on our faculty this past year. Please visit the Awards page on our website to learn more about all the important accomplishments and wonderful recognition the University of Michigan Psychology faculty have received.

U-M Psychology’s “Exploring the Mind” monthly series of community talks offers the public an inside look at fascinating topics in the field of psychology. You can view past presentations, see a schedule of future talks planned at the downtown branch of the Ann Arbor Public Library, and subscribe to our community talk email list here.

In Memoriam

Stephen Kaplan, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, and Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering